A Style To Play

Do you want to know about jinxing your favorite hometown team?  My father one of the only Chinese football players I knew along with his brother who I just learned was also as good perhaps even better as related by his son-in-law associated with the book on early Chinese immigration into America.  Now wait a minute what has this to do with the nerves it takes to play on line chess and getting beat up or win against your opponent?  If we can just get there to the point of winning and succeeding without torturing ourselves as I have done what is the problem?  It works for the chess champion  Magnus Carlsen the talented and very young chess player and he doesn't look like he is at all nervous when he plays chess.  I have played the game online some several thousand games as evident and recorded enough to win a little over half my games but these are tough and rugged chess players.  What I am learning is to get over the losses fast and move on.  I figure if the great genius Bill Walsh could coach the Forty Niners to Super Bowl victories why would his players listen to him coach them when he Bill Walsh was not an exceptional player himself?  My objective in this chess blog is to teach chess to my readers so that they can go on and do better than what I could or can do.  I personally spoke to Bill Walsh on the air about his style of coaching as opposed to the style of John Madden to fame coach of the Oakland Raiders the town or city where I grew up in.  His answer to my question of the style of coaching was an excellent response and I could not forget his answer despite my failure to perform well enough on a cognizant test in order to qualify as a candidate for a brain operation or DBS (deep brain stimulation) which is a treatment for Parkinson's disease.  Make no mistake about it a good memory is vital in becoming a chess champion and I do not have that kind of memory which would allow me to dominate my every opponent.  The question is can my blog on chess teach chess?  Throughout my blogs there is forever the question I pose about what a dynasty is to the Forty Niners as yes I did pose this question to the outgoing former coach Steve Mauriuci; will the Forty Niners see another dynasty?  I save myself quite a bit of torture and apprehension by not watching the game live and in fact didn't even know they were playing a crucial  game which could quite possibly get them to the  finals or to the Super Bowl.  Is this a prime example when someone says do not worry be happy?

Is There A Dynasty In The Making?

As of today I am rooting for my home town team across the bay namely the Forty Niners.  They are in the making and according to my news sports informant  they are indeed having a win by a small points to win against a good team.  I want to see them win yet a fan I am but with little knowledge of  the team.  I figured if I watched them they would lose and I would have jinxed them just by watching.  Normally I am contemplating a good game of chess whether I am ready or will be in the mood to play a good game of chess.  This is the real game I am interested in watching which of course is the game I am in.  If I do not watch the very game I am playing then it is lost but of course.  Frank Gore the regular running back is on target as I could see and of course my father was a running back for  Stockton High during his hay day in those days they were known as half backs.  The Forty Niners may very well see another dynasty but then again I don't predict the future with any great accuracy.  And what about the nation of China?  Will they see another dynasty as well?  That is the question.  It is too early to tell now despite their advancements.  I have been playing on line chess games still but there is nothing new to report despite the fact that I am winning enough games to justify playing the game but not nearly as many winning games as I have done before.  In this blog and socially I   can speak and write about the chess game without showing immense humiliation although  my ratings are rather low still.  The question is will my ratings in chess climb?  It does not look like it.  Diversions from chess like reporting on the local sporting football team and the Chinese people from China that by the way make every   known product seen in our American stores does break up the monotony of repetitious chess blog.   I still can't believe the known fact that most every product sold here in America and around the world is made in China.  Am I getting it wrong?  Does this mean China will have a leg up and a chance to move into championship chess and take on the dominant Russians who love the game of chess like never before?  I   do not have a clue but I think I asked myself an interesting question.

Reviewing December 2009 on China A Dynasty

It is rather embarrassing what I wrote  three years ago I regret being so bold and brash.  Yes this dynasty continues to march on for China and maybe even for the Forty Niners but I never predicted this to happen I merely mentioned it could happen.  There is nothing I did to make this happen except watch and observe like the rest of us.  And my chess ratings have dropped somewhat and as mentioned this cognitive test I took as a candidate was not good enough to qualify myself anymore as a candidate for a Deep Brain Stimulation.   My regular neurologist also added that such an operation doesn't increase intelligence and this neurologist is a smart man whose opinion I hold high.  But do you know what?  I am enjoying the game of chess better now and the nerves in chess do not bother me anymore as they did before.  And as one person who made a comment in this blog name Chesstiger I am learning to take loses better and get over the loss quick.  I do want the Forty Niners to win another one and get back into the winning ways they once had when they were a dynasty and they have survived this season and can do it again…just maybe.  And will China also see  through to it becoming an economic superpower of the world if not already?  I don't create the news I just report what I see.  I'm not about to jump on any bandwagon my goal is just to live life out to the fullest God willing.  Do you  want the truth? I am an American and I am Chinese so there you have it I have come to see both worlds.  Will China turn out more chess champions in the future?

The Necessary Aptitude To Play Chess

Currently I am doing the "Stand By Me" kind of act where in the movie an older man is seen writing about his youth.  This post involves the standards of excellence and achievements.  As we all know achievement is accomplished by the innate ability to possess talent and aptitude.  Will I have none of this.  This is why I named one of my blogs It Never Takes A Genius because anything I can do anybody can do.  In a geometry class in high school only one student called me a  genius and that was the last time I was called such a name.  Nothing comes easy for me and I have failed at many endeavors many times.  I must work very hard and even that alone  the effort spent is not always good enough.  Here is where we get at the root of the problem.  I always  knew I was not at the elite class that everything I was to do required a good effort and then still I did not see victory.  Those that succeed are generally from a privileged class and had the  upbringing and support to get where they are.  If I am totally wrong then let me hear the argument to the contrary.  I am constantly learning or at least I am prepared to say that I must allow for changes if I am to adapt to this environment.  To make a long story short I am not a candidate for a deep  brain stimulation procedure essentially a brain operation of which I was attempting to apply for in order to treat this Parkinson's ailment or disease I've been diagnosed with the  past ten years just before I retired from the Postal Service.  I fell too short on the cognitive testing plus it is suspected that I could be prone or addicted to a vice.  My back is now up against the wall and I must deal with Parkinson in other ways.  One would think I have this all totally wrong.  /

Playing Chess With Parkinsons

Michael J. Fox has this disease mind you.  Yet he has gone back to work although the fact that he has Parkinson's does not go undaunted.  This is an ailment as I have found that doesn't go away it is like a marriage it stays with you however for the rest of your or in this case my life; there is not a divorce.   This is not the bright side of the aspects of Parkinson's disease.  On the brighter side of this malady is that medicine and modern medical procedures are advancing as fast as this disease is spreading.   Now how can I come to this thought? I am not a doctor or an expert in any manner on this subject but I do know that my concentration to spend thinking about chess moves is clouded when my medicines for Parkinson's are not kicking in.  Throughout the many decades my tennis game has progressed into more time playing chess and as you know I do it not because it is easy but because it is hard….very hard.  To achieve in chess is one of the hardest things in life.  But that is just my opinion and I will deal with  it in this blog.  I   can no longer remain an athlete at tennis due to my inability to run as I did before I had Parkinson's.  Joe Montana most recently on television at age 55 says he cannot run anymore.  A   true athlete must not have Parkinson's as there is no athlete alive in this world that can be a  true athlete and a tennis player at the highest level.  But wait….can chess be played at a high level no matter what age or physical condition?  I'm still trying to figure this one out.  I do know leaders of nations for one can have Parkinson's and be famous or infamous depending upon your point of view.  Hitler had Parkinson's  and he was at the highest position of leadership when he was der Fuhrer of Germany the number one leader of this superpower in that era of time when he led the nation of Germany….oh pardon me I'm going off in tangents(my history teacher in high school would also say this. Mao Zedong the former legendary leader for many of years if not decades had Parkinson's.  And last but not least Janet Reno the former Attorney General of The United States of America has Parkinson's.  If I am wrong I stand to be corrected and I will make corrections; making false statements is not my intentions. But I do know I can say this without having to make retractions and that  I do hope there will be a cure to Parkinson's I would not wish for anyone to have this malady this disease including my worst enemy.
What I am  saying is that there is nothing wrong not even a delusion within a person if they hope to succeed despite a crippling disease did not the most popular Presidents of The United States during the Second World War have polio concealed from the public?  Wasn't Pope Paul  2 stricken with Parkinson's yet was giving a worldwide talk about his religion viewed by millions across the world? So  what is my  point?  The point is that good mental health can be improved by mind games including  chess which includes staying in good physical shape with a  physical activity you enjoy.   Note that I do not mean being a chess champion is ultimate goal but rather we should live to live a full life no matter the hardship.  Is this possible or just plain crazy?

Weathering The Slump

One never knows how long the slump may last.  The negative person could be ready at any time but my feedback most recently was that I am not ready to throw in the towel not just yet.  I just played a hot dogger a term I took from the old school days of tennis I don't know if they use that term anymore in the circles of chess but I just did.  A much lower rated player took me out the first game cut me to pieces in a bad way so I  resigned.  I just got  taken out it happened so fast.  But I prepare myself to tough out the slump without losing hope even though I may lose a whole string of games trying my best.

I haven't been writing much lately in this blog but I've been thinking of my readers following this blog. I'm not practicing like before game after game with fourteen  or more games of relentless and grueling time spent in aggravation and torture.  The game was never meant to be that way with me.  One must work harder and more with due diligence in order to be master of your opposition.  If this is true and it probably is to an extent then I don't want it.  There are plenty of other activities in life beside chess.  Chess shall not consume my inner soul and I will not sell it to the devil.  If it isn't in the cards to become the master of this game then so be it I can only go on and try my best and if that isn't good enough I can only try again until I get there if it takes another life time or two or many more I will get there.  Does such a person become the fool when he thinks like this or is he or she  the brave one who never gives up?  You tell me I would like to know your thoughts.

The End of This Post Blog Is Not Today

But I am very stressed out.  The game of chess went along as it was suppose to.  There was not the discomfort this time in my foot.  But I did pull a win off at a time when the day was not for me but one game at a time and then give me one moment in time to rest because now I feel pain somewhat but upsetting a good player a better player goes to show that I can play in a zone at least for today I did.  Opponent was rated 1350 a higher rated player normally for me  to play.  Neither one of us blundered but I'm all nerves now I don't have the control of my hands now to do much.  I had to play the perfect game and then some more with the skill of a saint.  I have always remember the  greatest games player at football who  told me over the air in response to my question what goes off in his head when faced with winning or  losing when hard pressed for time and only minutes if not seconds left on the clock what is he thinking?  Joe Montana told me directly  which was if you hate losing more than you like winning you will play not to lose.  Joe Montana won enough of those close games did he not?

The Need To Win

If I cannot win anymore games then I need to move on.  I already moved on from tennis because  tennis  is a young  man's sport although one classmate in high school told me I already made my mark in   tennis and I am ever so grateful for that remark.   Yes it was a long time ago but still I live for those days of glory as they have sustained me until this day.   By  the way one can play tennis at any age no matter what age  you are and no matter what ethnicity you are.   Snide remarks were made about Serena Williams when she was enrolled in a tennis academy so her father took her   out and began    coaching her himself.   And look where she is today?  First place in a world  ranking in women's tennis.   Not too many years ago Andre Agassi the tennis legend responded to my question  and that no unfortunately not minorities or people of color are not about to enter the field of tennis on a high professional level due to the fact that clubs for tennis are too expensive and people of color other than Caucasians would not have the exposure.  Andre told me this with Ronn Owens listening objecting well what about Serena Williams?  Well , what about Serena Williams?  I say you go girl!  Abraham Lincoln was indeed a great American President and said in a famous speech that all men are created equal and if people of color can achieve equality and I don't mean absolute superiority then maybe just maybe the balance of humanity will be seen as fair and proper.   Okay now I said my two cents worth and I bring you back to the chess game but remember there are other things good things in life besides chess.  Later I will tell you more about the great chess legend Bobby Fischer.

My Nerves Are Shot!

Yes, I am so nervous from playing online chess that my nerves are shot or in other words they are here to say slow down and get a hold of myself. It isn't the nervousness from losing but the nerves from winning a winning streak. This winning streak doesn't come around everyday but this one particular winning streak just came about without hope or prayer it just came. I knew it was somewhere around the corner or maybe thousands of miles way far away but I knew it was there. Or did I? At times there is little hope or even none. Call it despair because I have lost more games than I ever care to think about. This last player was one of the higher players rated somewhere at 1247 far above my ratings where I've been rated down in the dumps far below my norm. I figured it could have been dementia because I've been forgetting things lately like wearing my shirt outside inside out or wearing two different kinds of shoes at the same time. These can be sure signs of mental impairment make no doubt about it. If you think chess is boring and dull guess again. It may be all of that but it isn't all the time. There are moments like this time when the unusual takes place. My last opponent didn't hand over the game to me. I earned the win in fact he played with such perfection that I had to step it up far and away from the kind of low level game I'm so accustomed to playing. Right now my caffeine is wearing off and I'm returning to normal which means yes caffeine is my performance enhancing drug of choice.

Chess Can Determine Intelligence

Reporters do not come flocking in my direction when it comes to an expert opinion of what is intelligence or the necessary information needed to arrive at a solution for a problem complex or simple as it may be. The smartest man alive I know of is a talk show host formerly of KGO radio 810 of San Francisco a former physics professor at UC Berkeley. Although he does not play chess he could talk the talk of science and technology to plain every day people like myself in simple English. Chess is not a cognitive test for intelligence because a player can practice for this game legend for the beauty of this game for centuries now applied to computers faster and smarter than the best human chess player of the highest rating or rank. We all know this by now but I didn't know it until the big showdown between IBM Deep Blue and the top rated human chess player. I was a very low rated chess player and I am still such a low rated chess player but I would take my turn being thrashed by a 1600 rated human chess player until I practiced against chess playing computers. I learned a little enough to reach an ultimate dream and that was to beat this better player of all the chess players I knew except for Walter Browne. Bobby Fischer had a better game the legend chess player but make no bones about it Walter Browne is a living chess legend as of today. Let us face it the more games one practices the better the chances of being a better chess player and the better the chances are of being called smart. Chess is the most skilled games of many maybe not the most but it is up there if not already there the game has been around. For me to be a better player I would need countless and unending practice if I could capitalize on the game and make efficient use of my time. But the relentless time it takes for the right practice at this online chess game only tortures me and makes me more resistant toward the game as you have witness having read this blog on chess. As I said before I believe in the Magnus Carlsen way the top player and that is to have other interests not just chess. The game can consume a poor soul to the point of addiction and this is not good. It isn't healthy. But I believe I can help other chess players become better players even though my game isn't of the highest rated caliber after all was it not the great genius coach Bill Walsh of the Forty Niners who coached his team to the Super Bowl many times over and made a dynasty of it even though he himself Bill Walsh was not himself a good football player in his days? Bill Walsh and I had a great time discussing his coaching style in contrast to the famed John Madden of the Oakland Raiders who was so charged up during the games his emotions could be read quite emphatically by all his rants and raves along the side lines. But Bill would not do that but instead admittedly remained calmly along the sidelines calling the shots in his most serene manner. It was to my delight that he revealed his style and manner of coaching to me a man who almost knew nothing about football. But online chess games against rated players? I'm not that good but I have played and totaled over three thousand games having won more than half of them if that means anything.

Playing Chess While Under The Influence of Sedatives

For those addicted to the game of chess and by the way there is no such thing as an addiction to chess as chess is a healthy means of mental thought a sign of intelligence well accepted by historians look at the cold war a time in history where people of the thinking age would show off their skills head to head namely Bobby Fisher against Boris Spassky. So draw up the checkered board with the chess pieces and find a partner or two or even thousands of chess players on line which is what I did and will continue doing. This morning I took two sedatives over the counter to combat my insomnia something I discussed recently in this blog. Well I got crushed and bruised and annihilated victory was nowhere to be seen not even close. The two caffeine pills wasn't enough to offset the sedatives. But the best thing to do is play under ones own natural powers free of any sort of drugs but for me this is not a realistic approach. But I will live never say die. I googled my other blog It Never Takes A Genius asking if that blog was rated and my answer proved a rather interesting one. The google answer was met by my own words which said that if could win just one good game I could feel so good about such a win depending on how well I felt I played with no errors or mistakes no blunders and a strategy that could not be circumvented by my opponent. If this were to happen all the bad things that happened to me in the past would be made up for and forgotten by this one good win. When I can win a good particular chess game such a great win would make up for all my bad experience including the bad chess loses to the times I failed to reach particular goals in life. Similar to an addicted gambler I want that win and such a win drives me to play on despite my chess loses. In chess there is not the money to be lost for as we know chess is not a betting game like Poker is. So learn from my mistakes it is good to find a way out of insomnia but never a time to expect to do well while taking sedatives for all it does is make you want to sleep. No rocket science is involved.

Will Chess Cure Insomnia?

If anything in my experiences online chess is an exercise for the mind an excellent way to keep the mind in good shape as is hiking or jogging or working out at the gym to help to keep in good physical shape build muscles and so forth. My mistakes in chess was that I was torturing myself not too long ago playing too many games sitting down and not getting the proper physical workouts like Bobby Fischer and Walter Brown the chess grandmasters did. Now how did I know these American grandmasters kept physically fit by playing tennis? Trust me they did. Bobby Fischer the number one American legend in chess spoke about it on a major talk show on television and then I face Walter Browne on the other side of the net as we tried to destroy each other as we challenged each other in a match playing sets of tennis. We were very closely match but that was a long time ago back in the early seventies. Playing chess morning all day and all night will only make one obese a good hard workout by whatever physical activity one can muster will make playing chess a more enjoyable game I know it has worked for me. Magnus Carlsen the very young prodigy and now a highly rated chess player does many other activities other than chess. One must have talent for that. Chess will not cure insomnia but it sure can make the time go by with more enjoyment providing you don't start dosing off if you do you will be a prime target for checkmate. Don't get check mated learn from my mistakes it isn't worth it. I love a good game of chess and besides it gives me something like this blog to write about! An over the counter pill will be my answer to aid in my much needed sleep.

A Good Game For Insomnia

Chess is a good game for insomnia but when trying to get back to sleep is a diaster for the game success is not dosing off while playing chess but if one wins a game while dosing off then you have beaten the odds. In reality trying to sleep and play chess do not go together the fatigue was costing blunders to happen something of which no chess players does on purpose and if one does then there is some seriously thinking to be done. But I didn't do such a bad job considering but the last game consisted of a terrible blunder it was time to recuperate and get a power nap and rejuvenate. Believe you me the stress level I had learned in tennis has given me the stress level to play online chess I can think of far more dangerous activities than playing online chess even if it is for ratings. Being high on a roof and looking down or just knowing the wrong footing can cause serious injury or death is enough concern to try ones nerves. Playing chess online is a piece of cake. It depends on the situation like how many games one expects to win. Some players cheat and use chess playing computers I know this to be true after all I've played more than three thousand online games count the games they keep track of my win to lost games. I would not play chess if I were very tired anymore than I would drive a motor vehicle if I were tired if given the luxury to chose when to drive I would do so when fully alert. Even as a recreational chess player for ratings I look at the game very seriously as I would compared to driving a vehicle. Putting things in perspective is very important.

It Takes A World Champion

Who will it be in chess to dominate and illuminate the game of chess? Certainly it is an international game unlike American football so big and powerful here in the United States. Our American player now a legend but long past his prime and passed on not too many years ago made chess somewhat more known in America but Bobby Fischer shown through his game that America could still be a power of intellect and prestige. The nation who can shine in the ranking and ratings of the game of chess will in my mind be an important industrial economic status nation much in the same manner when Rome or the Romans were a power in which their game they dominated in was not in chess but in the arena of the gladiator and the tiger. I'm far from being an expert on this game but correct me if I am far off base but didn't the Christian have a fighting chance if he could slay a tiger in the arena with his sword or given weapon against the tiger either that or he would be the loser and thrown to the tigers if he lost to be consumed. When Bobby Fischer did dominate over Boris Spassky in chess was not the turning point in the super power status in terms of military might apparent? Please note the correlation between military might and the technology necessary to develop such weaponry and the games these super power nations have at their deposal. You may ask what sort of credentials do I have in the power and use of nuclear weapons to sustain a super status nation such as the United States in terms of a comment with the games we play known as chess. How can I possibly compare a game of chess having anything to do with a nations with weapons of power and mass destruction? What could a mere mortal such as myself know of nuclear power? I am aware of what nuclear power is as well as millions of other of my fellow Americans. And I was told who the father of the nuclear bomb is in fact I spoke to him on a major radio station not knowing who he was or is at that time he was a guest speaker but that I did know he was an important guest speaker on the Ronn Owens radio show here in the San Francisco area. Yes his name is Edward Teller father to the hydrogen bomb but he did amused us by saying that he never did get a father's day card from a nuclear bomb. He too like Bobby Fischer has since past on due to natural causes but yes you ask what does this all mean? This story will continue it cannot and will not die. Do I get nervous when we speak of a nuclear....sorry I do get so carried away I shall stay with the game of chess of which I know so much better. But yes I lived through the Cuban crisis when Russia came close to America with their nuclear weapons aboard their ships and was there nerves galore? You can bet there was.

Magnus Carlsen

Do we need to know what this man is like his likes and dislikes when off the chessboard? Let such celebrities have their own private lives I say but this isn't about to happen. The person at stake can make the game or break it. How many people besides maybe you or myself have heard of Magnus Carlsen the number one rated chess player in the world. I will have to make corrections if it has changed but my bet is that he still is rated now at being number one. But we do know about the bigger game out in the spotlight namely golf and the famous Tiger Woods now back in the driver's seat rated number one in golf and the highest paid sports figure currently. Do we need to know about his personal life? No we don't. But guess again. We will know about his personal life whether we want to or not. Read between the lines and you will see the deepest and darkest secrets of the stars. What works for Magnus Carlsen can work for you and for me which is his application of his work ethics; it probably won't get you to the top but it will get you as far as you need to get without getting burned out and resentful of the hell and torture of the game. Look at his style modest and reserved not the aggressive braggart so seen in many champions of their field. There is a nation that will be ascending to the top of the super power status with a good reputation for dominance in the economy or the capitalistic ways but it will always be humbled and hopefully respected and revered. What comes next to follow is so crazy and out of place that it is outrageous. Will China look upon Magnus Carlsen as the next leader of China. See I told you so this is totally insane but think of the wildest fantasy which is China needing a man of uncanny genius to lead a country which wants to be as well respected as America. China would therefore have a qualified person of a different color just as we of America elected Barrack Obama. Can a chess genius ever think about getting into politics once he becomes a grandmaster at chess? China could certainly use a man to lead their nation with a flair for genius capabilities and a man of certainly different ethnic character after all how could China thrive if it were known worldwide as a racist nation? Without fiction life would not be fun. And now as you can see my concentration is superb and I will proceed to destroy my next opponent no matter what his ratings are.

Improving Chess Ratings Through Deep Brain Stimulation

The movie Charley staring Cliff Robertson made an impression upon me although it is an old movie about a man who searched in vain for an experiment or a kind of brain surgery that would improve intelligence. Well shape up people and let us get real. It isn't about to happen anytime soon. It is science fiction in its infancy at most. These are my findings. But can we dream? Let me say this about the Chinese people. Never before in my wildest imagination did I dream in my wildest fantasy did I think or even dream that the Chinese would ever become the number one superpower of the world with the now projected forecast of two or three years. This is a well known news report nothing new that I have reported. I only report it as I see it before me in the news. I did not dream up this story.

Chess is only a game

Sometimes when I lose a game in chess I tell myself it is only a game. Saying this would alleviate the pain of losing. The energy and the time needed to bring up my ratings requires a relentless and endless time of practice that of which I don't have the time for. In fact I have scaled back way back on my practice time which means my ratings have fallen. Just because I have written a blog on what it is like to play online chess doesn't give me a ticket for bragging rights in fact quite the contrary chess the game keeps me humbled but it isn't easy to walk away from the game even though it is recreational. For me there is light at the end of the tunnel always and forever if not then I might as well pack it up and go on with my other endeavors. But most of the people I know just don't play chess for ratings and if they tell me how much smarter they are than me I might be tempted to say go ahead make a move make my day. Rumor has it that the number one ranked woman chess player Susan Polgar has read some of my chess blog. If this is true certainly she has made my day.

Holy Cow

No I know I don't lose all the time although don't ask me when I'm in the depths of a slump although I took that last chess slump well. I did. What prompts me is that I didn't my behind kicked in real good but instead I had just beaten a 1300 plus rated player coming from behind minus a rook or five points in the hole yet I felt I was still in it. I was. And if I tell you chess doesn't make me nervous anymore then I'm lying. It does even when I can win. It was a careful blunder less game on both our parts and by the wan I got some 29 points for beating a higher rated player not an everyday kind of thing for me. But I was in no pain entering this last game by leg was bothering me my medicine was kicking in this time and it is early in the morning but awake enough to play a fair game of Ms Packman an old old game of the 80's very popular back then I recently discovered. I think this old game could be an excellent gauge as to when not to play on line chess against humans as it is an excellent test of my alertness and brain activity in other words am I dosing off? And I'm active somewhat this morning without the caffeine. I needed that test to get me motivated in playing that chess game for ratings.